Work Continues on Downtown Water Main Repairs

Communications Director

Work Continues on Downtown Water Main Repairs

Posted: 04/04/2014

April 4, 2014 - KUB crews continued to work overnight and this morning to repair the water main break that occurred early Thursday at the intersection of Main Street and State Street, near the entrance to James White Parkway.

Repairs were delayed for a brief period Friday morning for safety concerns as a band of heavy rain moved through the area. All work resumed when the weather cleared.

"We expect work to be briefly slowed off and on today due to forecasted storms," said Tracy Hayes, KUB's Manager of Construction. "Despite the weather and complexity of repairs, however, we are still on track to restore water service to affected customers on Saturday."

Based on the extent of damage and the amount of re-construction required, KUB is aggressively condensing what amounts to a three-week long project into a few days. KUB employees will continue to work rotating 12-hour shifts until construction is completed.

KUB continues to work with customers affected by this water service outage.

After utility service is repaired, KUB will shift focus to work with the City of Knoxville and Tennessee Department of Transportation on roadway restoration. Road closures and detours may extend into early next week.

Coinciding with ongoing repairs and restoration, the following streets are expected to remain closed through the weekend: Main Street between S. Gay Street and S. Central Street, State Street between W. Hill Avenue and Cumberland Avenue, and the Main Street entrance ramp to James White Parkway.

Additionally, access remains open to the parking garage at First Tennessee Towers via Cumberland Avenue. The Dwight Kessell Parking Garage and BB&T building continue to be accessible from Hill Avenue only.